The Swedish "doctorate" a deputy health minister used to get his job is not a doctorate at all, Vietnamnet quoted the education ministry as saying Wednesday.

The degree Cao Minh Quang received from the Sweden-based Uppsala University on October 26, 1994 was in fact an intermediate degree which is a pre-doctorate level degree, newspaper Tien Phong quoted the ministry's quality control department as saying that day.

However, former deputy education minister Tran Van Nhung then certified that Quang's certificate was equivalent to a doctorate degree, according to Vietnamnet.

The department conducted checks on Quang's qualification as per his request, after Ngo Minh Nho, a war veteran in Ho Chi Minh City, filed accusations at the central government police, saying that Quang had made false statements about his qualifications, the newswire said.

Later police concluded the certificate was granted to him for his research about natural drugs between 1992 and 1994, and that under the school's regulation the certificate was a requirement for one to attend a doctorate course.